Exam 4 (Modules 11 - 13)

Question 1

What is the difference between power and authority?

Answer 1

Power is the ability to control the behavior of people.

Authority is power perceived as legitimate by society.

Question 2

What are the three types of authority?

Answer 2

1. Traditional: Kings, Queens, Emperors, religious dignitaries. Based upon tradition – the way things have always been done.
2. Charismatic: Some leaders of movements, religious prophets. Based upon the personality of the individual.
3. Rational–legal: Elected officials, bureaucrats, based on written documents such as manuals, bylaws, and constitutions. Its reference point is not the individuals involved, but the relationship between statuses.

Question 3

Where does the state fit in terms of power and authority?

Answer 3

While other social institutions (such as the family or religion) or organizations (such as the workplace) or people may have power over us, the state exercises power over the society as a whole. It trumps the other bases of power.

Question 4

The differences between the types of political systems?

Answer 4

Monarchy: A political system in which
power resides in one person or family and
is passed from generation to generation
through lines of inheritance.

Authoritarianism: A political system
controlled by rulers who deny popular
participation in government.

Totalitarianism: A political system in 
which the state seeks to regulate all 
aspects of people's public and private 
lives. This involves the denial of what we 
might term basic human rights, such as 
free speech and freedom of the media.

Democracy: A political system in which
the people hold the ruling power either
directly or through elected representatives.

Question 5

Structural Functionalist Perspective on the Government

Answer 5

The functions of government:

• maintain law and order
• plan and direct society
• meet social needs
• handle international relations

Question 6

Conflict Theory Perspective on the

Government

Answer 6

Conflict Perspectives: Elite Models

• Power in political systems is in the hands of a small group of elites and the masses are relatively powerless (C. Wright Mills, “The Power Elite”).
• Decisions are made by the elites based upon their interests.
• The needs and concerns of the masses are not often given full consideration by the elite.

Question 7

Voting patterns in the United States in terms of participation and political party supported?

Answer 7

• Over the past 40 years, less than half the voting-age
  population has voted in nonpresidential elections. Under 60% even vote in presidential elections.
• Men tend to vote republican
• Women tend to vote democrat
• Whites tend to vote republican
• Every other race- ethnicity tends to vote democrat
• Older people tend to vote republican
• Young people tend to vote democrat

Question 8

Characteristics of Socialist Economies

Answer 8

Three distinctive features:

1. Public or collective ownership of businesses and property.
2. Pursuit of collective goals.
3. Government control of the economy.

Question 9

What is meant by a “profession” as opposed to a “job”?

Answer 9

Five Characteristics of Professions

1. Theoretical and specialized knowledge
2. Autonomy
3. Authority
4. Altruism – community rather than self-interest orientation

Question 10

Structural Functionalist Perspectives on the Social Institution of the Family

Answer 10

Four Functions of Families

1. Care and socialization of children
2. Economic and psychological support for members.
3. Regulation of sexual activity.
4. Provision of social status and reputation.

Question 11

Conflict Perspectives on the Social Institution of the Family

Answer 11

Conflict Perspective
1. The traditional family is patriarchal and
subjugates women to the authority of men

Question 12

Conflict Perspectives on the Social Institution of the Family

Answer 12

Conflict Perspective

1. The traditional family is patriarchal and
   subjugates women to the authority of men

Question 13

The topic of cohabitation (its prevalence, its impact on the probability of divorce)

Answer 13

• Refers to two people who live together in a romantic relationship without being legally married.
• Cohabitation has become the norm in America
• Living together before marriage does not appear to lower divorce rates.
• A recent study of 11,000 cohabitating couples found that there was a 70% marriage rate for those who remained in the cohabiting relationship for at least 5 years.
• However, of those who married their partner, 40% became divorced within just ten years.

Question 14

What is meant by “divorce”, what is its prevalence and how is its incidence different between groups?

Answer 14

• The legal process of dissolving a marriage that
  allows former spouses to remarry if they so
  choose.
• The divorce rate for first marriages is about
  50%
• If you are a reasonably well-educated person with a decent income, come from an intact family, and are religious, and marry after age twenty-five without having a baby first, your chances of divorce are very low indeed.

Question 15

Paul Bohannan’s Stations of Divorce and apply to an example

Answer 15

These stations are:

(1) Emotional
(2) Legal
(3) Economic
(4) Co-parental
(5) Community
(6) Psychic

Question 16

What is monogamy?

Answer 16

• A marriage between two partners, usually a
  woman and a man.
• Through a pattern of marriage, divorce, and
  remarriage, some people practice serial
  monogamy—a succession of marriages in which a person has several spouses over a lifetime but is
  legally married to only one person at a time.

Question 17

What is polygamy?

Answer 17

The marriage of a person of one sex to two or more members of the opposite sex.

Question 18

Structural Functionalist Perspectives on Education

Answer 18

• Socialization
• Social control
• Social placement
• Change and innovation
• Latent functions (childcare, occupy youth, establishment of potential marriages)

Question 19

Conflict Theory Perspectives on Education

Answer 19

• Education reproduces existing class relationships through:
  ◦ Tracking of students early in their academic careers
  ◦ Unequal funding is a source of inequality in education.
• Access to colleges and universities is determined not only by academic record but also by the ability to pay.

Question 20

What is the family of orientation versus the family of procreation?

Answer 20

• Family of orientation is the family into which a person is born and in which early socialization usually takes place.
• Family of procreation is the family a person forms by having or adopting children.

Question 21

What is meant by the nuclear and the extended families?

Answer 21

• An extended family is composed of relatives in
  addition to parents and children.
• A nuclear family is composed of one or two
  parents and their dependent children.

Question 22

In what ways do the roles of husband and wife reflect traditional gender roles?

Answer 22

• On average, husbands are two years older than their wives
• 78% of wives have lower levels of education than do their husbands
• 96% of all stay at home parents are women
• Wives are more than twice as likely to be involved in
  eldercare responsibilities than are their husbands

Question 23

What are endogamy and exogamy?

Answer 23

• Endogamy (or homogamy) is the practice of marrying within one’s own group.
• Exogamy (or heterogamy)is the practice of marrying
  outside one’s own social group or category.

Question 24

How is the high school drop-out rate related to race and ethnicity?

Answer 24

Drop-out Rates

Total: 4.7%

White: 3.9%

American Indian/ Alaskan native: 4.4%

Asian: 4.7%

Black: 5.5%

Hispanic: 6.5%

Question 25

What is the largest religious denomination in the United States?

Answer 25

Catholic

Question 26

Structural Functionalist Perspectives on Religion

Answer 26

Religion Provides Positive Functions for Society:

1. Providing meaning and purpose to life.
2. Promoting social cohesion and a sense of belonging.
3. Providing social control and support for important norms.

Question 27

Conflict Theory Perspectives on Religion

Answer 27

• Religion is an “ideology” used to control the oppressed classes.
• “Religion is the opium of the masses” (Karl Marx)